Israel presses on despite US call to halt fence building

The Israeli Government has shrugged off a new call from President George Bush for a halt to its settlements and fence building in the occupied Palestinian territories, saying it intends to push ahead despite strengthening criticism from its main backer.

Speaking during a visit to Italy, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said: "I don't advise anyone to see it as a sign of new tension . . . It's true that there are some subjects upon which we disagree but this does not create any tension."

"We have reached a clear and unequivocal decision to build this fence, to prevent the extremists from attacking us," he said. "We are doing everything we can to put up this fence that will prevent infiltrations."

Mr Bush's remarks on his visit to London were welcomed, however, by the Palestinian Authority, which claims the "apartheid wall" is designed to annex more Arab territory and divide the occupied territory up into what it calls "Bantustans" - a reference to white South Africa's black reservations.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saab Erekat said: "The important thing in President Bush's speech is that he called upon the Israeli Government to stop building the apartheid wall because it pre-empts the negotiations. We call upon President Bush to make the Israeli Government stop building the wall immediately."

In an apparent nod to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mr Bush used his speech in London to call for a "viable, independent state" for the Palestinian people.

"Israel should freeze settlement construction, dismantle unauthorised outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, and not prejudice final negotiations with the placements of walls and fences," he said.

Mr Bush also called for an end to terrorist attacks against Israel and said that "Europe's leaders - and all leaders - should strongly oppose anti-Semitism, which poisons public debates over the future of the Middle East".

His remarks came at a time when Israel is mounting an offensive against what it sees as a "new anti-Semitism" underlying increased European hostility to its occupation and settlement of the West Bank and Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military, facing rare domestic accusations that it lied over an air raid that left 12 Palestinians dead, acknowledged on Wednesday that it had given erroneous details of the incident at Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza on October 20.

Israeli media had accused officials of misleading them as to the type of weapon used in the raid against militants. A military spokesman acknowledged that "perhaps due to the operational and security sensitivity . . . we erred in the way in which we chose to describe the means of operation".